Cate Blanchett

Film Review: The New Boy is a fascinating, symbolic look at colonisation and religious autonomy

The themes tackled throughout Warwick Thornton‘s The New Boy are presented with symbolic, almost-magical and allegorical physicality.  And though its 1940’s Australian setting lends interesting conversation to its religious outlay and the clashing of beliefs at the time, the film itself doesn’t quite contain the spark needed to earn true impact; though it’s not for…

Read More

The New Boy tackles religion and colonisation with an allegorical mentality: Sydney Film Festival Review

The themes tackled throughout Warwick Thornton‘s The New Boy are presented with symbolic, almost-magical and allegorical physicality.  And though its 1940’s Australian setting lends interesting conversation to its religious outlay and the clashing of beliefs at the time, the film itself doesn’t quite contain the spark needed to earn true impact; though it’s not for…

Read More

Sydney Film Festival unveils stellar program for its 70th anniversary

“A film festival is a gathering of diverse perspectives that offers a collective snapshot of the global zeitgeist, allowing us to delve deeper into our present reality,” said Sydney Film Festival Director Nashen Moodley as he unveiled this year’s stellar line-up of programming, running from June 7th – 18th. “For 70 years, Sydney Film Festival has…

Read More

ACMI explores women’s on-screen agency and representation with Goddess: Power, Glamour, Rebellion exhibit

Through iconic stories, characters and moments from over 120 years of moving image history, Goddess: Power, Glamour, Rebellion celebrates the women and gender-transcending superstars who shaped their own roles, took creative control and fought a system that tried to exploit them. From the swagger of Mae West and glamour of Anna May Wong to the powerful…

Read More

Interview: Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss on Tár; “You have to know when people can take a harsh criticism or when they’re not ready to hear that.”

Nominated for her record eighth Academy Award for her latest role as Lydia Tár, Cate Blanchett‘s turn as the titular character in Todd Field’s Tár is a tour-de-force performance that speaks to the strive for perfection within the world of art and a female’s abuse of power. As the film releases nationally in Australia, Peter…

Read More

Interview: Todd Field on Tár, writing for Cate Blanchett, and tackling female abuse of power

Tár, set in the international world of classical music, centers on Lydia Tár, widely considered one of the greatest living composer/conductors and first-ever female chief conductor of a major German orchestra. Enveloped by a career-best Cate Blanchett in her Golden Globe-winning (and now Oscar nominated) performance, Tár is brought to the screen by director Todd…

Read More

Film Review: Cate Blanchett devours Tár whole and spits it out with a venom that addresses “cancel culture” and female toxicity

There’s a lot to digest within the 158 minutes of Todd Field‘s ambitious Tár, so much so that lead Cate Blanchett practically devours it whole and spits out a venomous toxicity in return.  It’s an, at-times, icy black comedy and a tragic character study melded within the cancel culture mentality and the #MeToo movement.  It…

Read More

Why we have Cate Blanchett to thank for the return of Documentary Now!

Earlier in the month, three episodes from the new season of IFC’s iconic mockumentary series Documentary Now! premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).  And during a post-screening Q&A, it was revealed that we have Australia’s own Cate Blanchett to thank for its long awaited return. In front of a sold out audience at…

Read More

Film Review: Nightmare Alley is an intoxicatingly beautiful and haunting noir thriller from Guillermo del Toro

So intoxicatingly beautiful is Guillermo del Toro‘s haunting Nightmare Alley that its sheer aesthetic pleasures alone are enough to forgive the narrative sins it commits along the way. Far from the unnerving horror film the trailers would have you believe, del Toro’s adaptation of William Lindsay Greshem‘s 1946 novel – first made into a feature…

Read More

Win a double pass to the 2021 ABIA Gala

Next week, Wednesday April 28th, will see the best and brightest of Australian literature descend on Sydney’s Carriageworks for the premier event in the Australian book industry calendar; and we’re giving five of you the chance to join them.  We have five General Admissions double passes to give away to the 2021 ABIAs Awards Gala….

Read More

Film Review: How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (USA, 2019) is a fitting end to a coming of age saga

When Cressida Cowell’s book series How To Train Your Dragon was developed into a film, its success took the world by storm and spawned a number of television series, short films, video games and even live performance shows. Now the third, and final film installment has arrived with How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden…

Read More

Film Review: The House With A Clock In Its Walls (USA, 2018) Ticks With Magic; Tocks With Horror

When you mix up Harry Potter with Goosebumps you end up with The House With A Clock In Its Walls. A film that combines magic with a haunted house and the tried and true need for our young hero to find his courage and rise up to save the day. When orphaned 10 year old…

Read More

Film Review: Ocean’s 8 (USA, 2018) proves acceptable escapism that’ll steal your attention during its running time

Whilst it may not quite boast as impressive an ensemble as the original Ocean’s trilogy managed to concoct (George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Julia Roberts to name a few), Ocean’s 8 still steers ahead on charm and glamour, proving that an octet of women can do anything just as capable as an eleven-strong…

Read More

Broadway rehearsals underway for Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Chekhov’s first play

Starring Richard Roxburgh and Cate Blanchett, Andrew Upton‘s The Present is based on Anton Chekhov‘s first play, untitled and only discovered sixteen years after his death. After an acclaimed season in Sydney, the STC production will begin previews at Broadway’s Barrymore Theatre later this month. With Upton’s adaptation set post-Perestroika in the mid-1990s, friends gather…

Read More

First trailer for the ambitious documentary Voyage of Time has been released

The upcoming documentary Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey has received is first full length trailer and it looks spectacular. This ambitious film is a celebration of earth across all of time, from the birth of the universe to its final collapse. Voyage of Time examines science and spirit, birth and death, the grand cosmos and…

Read More

Warner Bros. lines up a massive female cast for the Ocean’s Eight spin-off

Warner Bros confirmed this week that October will be the start date for Ocean’s Eight, the female-led spin-off of the successful Ocean’s franchise. Production is set to begin in New York with many actors having their roles confirmed, Deadline Hollywood has reported. When the project was first announced, acaresses such as Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett…

Read More

DVD Review: Knight of Cups (USA, 2015)

Or, as I like to call it, Special-K. Terrence Malick and his editors have modeled their film on the time and space bending properties of a psychoactive trip. One second you’re in a swanky Los Angeles apartment, the next on the ruins of a burnt-down gas station.  Sometimes it’s Rick’s (Christian Bale) voice whispering contemplative…

Read More

Sydney Theatre Company heads to Broadway with The Present

Following a sold-out, critically acclaimed engagement in Sydney, Australia last August, The Present, Andrew Upton’s new adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s first play, Platonov, will be presented on Broadway for a limited engagement in the early Winter of 2016. The Present, directed by John Crowley, will see Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh make their Broadway debuts,…

Read More

Film Review: Carol (M) (UK/USA, 2015)

Carol may look like a film set in the 1950’s but it feels far more modern than its exterior appears. A slow burning love story that refuses to end on a tragic note, performed by two exceptional leads that doesn’t require any loud professions about sexuality or equality or feminism to make its point. We…

Read More

Watch the Full Trailer for CAROL

Starring Rooney Mara as Therese and Cate Blanchett as Carol, the CAROL is an adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel The Price of Salt. Directed by Todd Haynes and written by Phyllis Nagy, click through to watch the trailer in full… Due for release in 2016, CAROL is set in 1950s New York and follows the story…

Read More

Film Review: Cinderella (G) (USA, 2015)

If you can imagine the Disney fairy tale animated film of the same name brought to the screen in all its resplendent glory as live action, then Kenneth Branagh’s version certainly fulfils that. A consistently visually bold film even though it does lack a sense of originality or uniqueness in the story. Regardless it’s still…

Read More